


The Erinyes

by BlazingFate, HazardousDestiny, mossring



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Espionage, Eventual Romance, F/M, How Do I Tag, LGBTQ Character of Color, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Slow Build, Slow To Update, it's confusing but it'll all work out i swear, its barely mentioned but its like there, theres 3 people writing at once on the same account
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 00:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20537240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazingFate/pseuds/BlazingFate, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazardousDestiny/pseuds/HazardousDestiny, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mossring/pseuds/mossring
Summary: Sora is the girl known by everyone and no one. Corey is the girl everyone thinks they understand. And Avy is the girl of nightmares and shadows. Together, they are misfits living in a world on fire. Set eight years before Sophie Foster entered the Lost Cities, this is the story of three girls who each played a game-changing role in creating the spark before the blaze.





	1. Prologue+SORA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Without warning, the marble floor she was standing on gave way beneath her feet and splintered into sharp, jagged rocks falling in time with her. Sora tried to scream, but the loud, explosive sound of the rocks crashing down took her voice away completely. She felt herself plummet down and down, the wind whooshing in her ears, and she realized what was going to happen too late. She screamed again, and closed her eyes, not wanting to look down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Non-canonical Character Death

**SYNOPSIS**

_She is the girl known by everyone and no one._

Sora Heks is a prodigy at Foxfire Academy who frequently gets picked on for her strange behaviour, but she's more than anyone thinks she is. Besides being a messenger for the clandestine organisation, the Black Swan, Sora's unique, unexplainable mind is what made Project Moonlark happen — but that is the least of her concern when something unexpected happens and gets her banished from the Lost Cities and into the dangerous unknown of the Neutral Territories. Luckily, she's not alone. Closely accompanied by her brother Soreas, Sora sets off to attend Exillium, where past, present, and future all entwine together to change everything she's ever known.

_She is the girl everyone thinks they understand._

Everyone thinks they know who Cordelia Malum is. Cheerful, and always up for some fun, Corey is always that friend who you could trust with almost anything. Or so they think. When her parents were murdered by the Neverseen almost nine years ago, Cordelia has not stopped in her quest to seek revenge. Along with her powerful telepathic ability, she's the perfect spy for the Black Swan. But she's about to find out, that sometimes, it's not that bad, letting someone in. After all, what was that human saying again? Ah, "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

_She is the girl of nightmares and shadows._

Avyela Ellis. In the Lost Cities, she's known as the one who started 'The Nightmare', a night of pain, blood, and nightmares. In the eyes of her organization, she is one of the most suitable for violent spy missions. And to other Shades, she's the girl who managed to find a way to manipulate something more than just shadows, the girl who had been out of control before she even manifested. Banished at the mere age of six, Avy finds herself being the longest standing Wayward, having reached her eighth year a few months ago. But as plans are made and changed, Avy knows that the time for fun is coming nearer, especially when a mysterious girl appears in the light.

_They are misfits living in a world on fire._

When the three of them inevitably meet out of fate, they're about to find themselves in a world where they couldn't believe they have been living in for their whole lives. Every step further into their world's underbelly makes them realise how far each organisation is willing to go. Every scheme they uncover turns into a whole other timeline they have to stop before it's too late. But it turns out each of them has something they wish to hide in the deepest, darkest parts of their souls, and no one knows how far one another is willing to go to protect the things they love the most. Will they be able to withstand the consequences of knowing?

* * *

**Chapter One**

_She is the girl known by everyone and no one._

Sora Heks could feel the stares. 

She could feel the stares boring into her back as she hurried through the halls of the Golden Tower as the whispers hissed in her ears. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, but they flew wide open again when she bumped arms with a girl. Yelping, she stumbled back a few steps, almost bulldozing into someone behind. Sora muttered a short word of apology and veered past the girl, continuing to rush past everyone with lightning speed. 

The whispers grew louder and louder, reaching to the point that they were as clear as day. 

They were nothing but rumours. The rumours would always get around, spreading faster than even Everblaze— but no one dared to say that word out loud. They were childish and immature but somehow always hit her harder than she’d expected. 

The scroll tucked away carefully in her cape pocket threatened to fall out, but she could not do anything that would make her look conspicuous--not that she was not already. But she didn't think anyone would be able to guess what she was actually doing.

Sora skidded past another fellow Level Seven and took off running again. She heard somebody call her name in the distance behind, but she did not bother to look back. She was already running late, and time waited for no elf. 

“Miss Heks!” A loud, booming voice reverberated through the halls, making Sora jump as she pulled to an abrupt stop. She pressed a hand to the lockers beside her, struggling to catch her breath as she slowly raised her eyes to lock gazes with none other than the Beacon of the Golden Tower. Her heart sank, and she resisted the urge to fish in her cape pocket to make sure that the scroll had not dropped out. 

Master Theta’s glare was even more skewering than the stares and whispers that Sora usually would receive. This time, it was her turn to stumble back a few steps. A few prodigies hung by the sidelines, watching the two of them with wide, frightened eyes, but no one dared to step out and stand up for her. 

Sora was not offended or even surprised. After all, no one ever did anything heroic for her.

“No running in school premises,” Master Theta said sternly, her eyebrows furrowed together fiercely and her hands on her hips. 

Sora bowed her head as if bathing in her own shame, but inwardly she was scheming how she would get away from this difficult compromise. “I--I’m truly sorry, Master Theta,” said Sora, making her voice wobble to make it seem realer than it was. “I--I really didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

Master Theta opened her mouth like she wanted to say something else, but changed her mind after a moment and nodded her head. “Just don’t do it again, Miss Heks. And detention for you tomorrow. Do not forget.”

Sora inclined her head deeply, and before Master Theta could call her out again, she brisk-walked away from the humiliating scene. 

The crowd cleared and she heaved a sigh of relief, risking a split second to pat her pocket to ensure that the scroll was still there even after all the chaos. 

She then allowed herself a little victorious smile, before sprinting off to the Leapmaster. 

“Hey, Soreas!” she shouted over the noise of the crowd queuing to get onto the Leapmaster. Everyone’s heads turned over to stare at her, but she flipped her hair at them and smiled slyly at the boy who was already second in line. “Mind if I cut?”

The redheaded boy glanced sideways at her, before gesturing at her to come to his side. Sora walked past the line of glaring prodigies and sidled up to him. He gave her a knowing look with those pale aquamarine eyes of his. 

“What?” she asked innocently.

“You’re running late,” Soreas stated simply in Japanese, making her flush in both embarrassment and anger. “You need to hurry over there, and fast. What in Eternalia took you so long?”

“Theta,” said Sora simply in the same language, drawing out each syllable like a lazy breeze blowing at their stray hairs. “And we’re not in Eternalia. I'm lucky she wasn’t in her usual dramatic mood today. I remember what happened last time. It was the _worst _\--”

She was cut off abruptly when Soreas shoved her towards the platform of the Leapmaster. Sora gasped in shock as she flailed her limbs, trying to find a steady stand.

“Good luck,” was all her brother said.

Sora got a grip of herself and the railing as she shouted, “Moonglade!”

* * *

When Sora materialised on the rocky grounds of Moonglade, a familiar-looking man was already waiting for her, his arms crossed against his chest. 

Sora barely remembered to reach into her Foxfire satchel and take out a long, dark cloak, wrapping it against her figure and pulling up the hood to cast her face in shadow. If anyone who happened to come to Moonglade at this timing noticed the two mysterious people doing conspicuous things, they would have been alerted. And nobody in the Black Swan wanted that to happen.

“You’re late,” he said simply, his beady blue eyes fixed on her form as she approached. Sora gave him a look, but did not say anything to protest otherwise as she took the bound scroll out of her pocket and held it out for him to take.

“I apologize. I had a slight delay,” she explained. “Master Theta doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

His lips twisted into an amused smile as he took the scroll away from her carefully. “Maybe you’ll have an easier time after I become Beacon.”

She tried to stifle her snort as she rolled her eyes at him. “Like _that’s _ever going to happen. That aside… are you faring well over there? I heard she manifested her first-ever ability. How did she react?”

“Do you really need to know?”

“Yes, because I _care. _And are you forgetting that I played a big part in Project Moonlark?” The words slipped her mouth before her mind could filter them.

Once her words settled in, her eyes widened and she bit the inside of her cheek nervously, wanting to watch his reaction but not daring to meet his eyes either. 

When he did not say anything for another five seconds, Sora mustered up the courage to open her mouth again. “Forgive me, but I wish to know. We’re all in the same team after all. If there’s anything I can do to help…” Her voice trailed off as she raised her head to look at him with the best pleading expression she could manage.

The man who went by the pseudonym Mr Forkle heaved a big sigh. Sora looked at him expectantly, but all he did was untie the ribbon and unfurl the scroll. Sora gritted her teeth in impatience as his eyes scanned the contents of the scroll slowly, keeping his face expressionless.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mr Forkle rolled up the scroll again and said, “All is well over at the Forbidden Cities. Miss Foster is fine.”

“That’s too…” Sora hesitated before continuing, “Well… that’s too… vague.”

His eyes softened for a rare moment. “In the words of Alden Vacker, there is no reason to worry, Miss Heks. Rest assured.”

“You will update me immediately if there’s anything amiss, right?” asked Sora anxiously, glancing back instinctively to check if the coast was clear. 

“You have my word,” Mr Forkle replied, turning his head to gaze at the horizon. 

The sky was bathed in a pinkish-orange light, and reflected into his eyes as he continued, “It’s getting late. You should get home. Is Soreas well?”

“He’s always well,” Sora retorted, “because you don’t give him anything to do.”

Mr. Forkle’s eyes did not falter as he continued staring into the distance, as if he was trying to think into the future. “His role will come, soon enough. But it’s clear that you were meant to do greater things than him, Miss Heks.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sora, frowning in confusion at his ambiguous words. “You’re not a Descryer. And you're clearly not a Shade. I don't have to believe anything you say.” 

Either Mr Forkle did not hear her, or he simply chose to ignore her as he stuffed the scroll in his pocket and handed her a temporary leaping crystal. 

Sora stared at the light the transparent crystal reflected as it glimmered brightly in the setting sun. It was the eleventh time she had received an identical copy of a light path to her house, but she still had never gotten used to it.

“Go,” Mr Forkle ordered sternly. And when she did not move, he added, “Now!”

Sora said nothing more as she held the crystal to the sky and stepped into the light path that had been created. She swore she saw Mr Forkle’s expressionless facade crumble away, but she thought that it must have been just a hallucination due to the blinding light.

She glittered onto the cobblestone pathway of Mettle Manor and made her way calmly to the double doors of the mansion as if nothing had happened. Because as far as most people thought, nothing happened.

Before she could knock, the doors swung wide open and Soreas peeked out at her, staring at her through his floppy red bangs.

“You’re finally back,” he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her inside to the empty foyer. “That took longer than usual. I wonder why?”

“It’s just _Mr__ Forkle _being Mr Forkle,” sighed Sora, pushing past her brother to race up the spiral staircase that led to their bedrooms, ripping off her dark cloak and stuffing it back into her satchel at the same time. “Sometimes I really don’t understand him.”

“Well, what can you expect? After all, he’s just a weird part-time Mentor of the Universe. I mean, that’s only one of his coverups, but I think that says it all already.” The sound of Soreas’s footsteps rang out in the empty space as he sped up to chase after his sister. “But seriously, what happened?”

_“Nothing _happened, Soreas. That’s the thing! He refuses to tell me anything about Project Moonlark. He seems to have forgotten who was the one who played a big part in creating her!” Sora’s voice grew louder and louder by each word, showing her frustration. She struggled to catch her breath as she clambered up each arduous step. “He just thinks that he can rule over us just because he says ‘ _you kids.’”_

“I don’t understand.”

“I—I don’t expect you to.” Sora shooed Soreas away and raced into her bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it twice. She sighed in relief, pressing her trembling form against the wall as she slid down to the tiled floor, feeling the coldness of the marble seep into her bones. 

The bedroom was dimmed by the closed blinds, little light filtering in from the gaps. Sora reached down to untie the shoelaces on her boots with shaky hands, her mind too fogged to focus on anything more complicated. And yet, there was still space for memories to surface. 

Her mind tried to push them down and make them sink to the bottom— where they ought to be— but they persisted, sending a flurry of motion images floating across her eyes. 

A girl bearing a striking resemblance to her, except for her dark aquamarine eyes— a stark contrast to Sora’s pale ones. Her cheeky smile, stretching across her face. The loving way she looked at her twin as she reached out to pull her in a hug. 

The fleeting look of fear on her face when Sora found her with a suspicious cloaked figure, and the anger flashing across her eyes when she was accused of being Beguiled.

_But did you really mean it? Did you? Tell me the truth. Tell me the truth! Please!_

Sora clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and the pain of her fingernails cutting into her flesh brought her back to reality. 

Dazed, she looked around bemusedly, before her gaze landed on her half-untied boots.

Suddenly feeling a wave of rage overwhelm her, Sora ripped off the boots from her feet and hurled them at the table lamp on the opposite side of the room. They hit their target perfectly, striking the lamp with blasting force and knocking it to the floor, shattering it into a million shards of crystal and glass. 

The metallic toes of the boots shimmered in the dim light, making Sora shiver.

The excitement of the moment had faded away and Sora winced at the ugly state of her room. She realised she was shaking rigorously, and pulled her legs closer to her chest as she sat in the corner of her room, letting her tears flow out silently. Faintly, she could hear Soreas’s frantic voice asking what had happened, and his never-relenting knocking on the mahogany door, but she ignored him as she hugged herself tighter until her nails turned pale.

She could feel a spark of a strange power light up her world of darkness, flickering in and out with the unsteady rhythm of her breathing. She tried to calm down, tried to get herself to rest her mind, but her emotions only grew more ragged with each second, and the unfamiliar energy sizzled stronger, making her toes and her fingertips buzz.

A strange gravity seemed to be rooting her to the floor of her bedroom and when she tried to walk, the downward force only got more intense.

Without warning, the marble floor she was standing on gave way beneath her feet and splintered into sharp, jagged rocks falling in time with her. Sora tried to scream, but the loud, explosive sound of the rocks crashing down took her voice away completely. She felt herself plummet down and down, the wind whooshing in her ears, and she realized what was going to happen too late. She screamed again, and closed her eyes, not wanting to look down. 

Bracing herself for the impact, she counted the seconds to distract herself from her fear--

She bounced off something spherical and landed on a soft surface. With bleary eyes, she realized that she had landed on the living room sofa. It hurt when she tried to get up, but she resisted the agony as she cast a confused glance around her. A wind that had seemed to come out of nowhere whipped her hair into her face, and she pushed the annoying auburn strands out of her eyes, trying to get a sense of what had happened, and what still was happening.

“Sora!” someone screamed, piercing to her ears. Sora blinked in surprise as Soreas lunged toward her, dodging little pieces of plaster falling from above as he made his way over. “Are you alright?”

“What… just… happened?” Sora managed to croak out. Her eyes flickered over to Soreas’s arm, where a large gash ran from his elbow to his wrist. “You’re bleeding!”

“So are you.” Soreas’ voice was clearly shaking terribly as he pulled Sora to her feet. “Let’s go find Mum and Dad. They might be trapped in the fallen debris. You— you can explain later.” 

“What--what if they…” Sora didn’t dare to finish her sentence, in case saying it out loud would make it true. A sob bubbled up her throat and escaped her lips. The sound of her crying amongst all the ruins sounded foreign to her, but once the floodgates were open, there was no stopping the rest of the tears from falling out.

“Hey,” whispered Soreas, taking her hand in his. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“How— how do you know that?” said Sora, her voice growing louder and louder and more agitated by each second. “Why does everyone claim they know what’ll happen? First Mr. Forkle, now you! Can you really say everything will be alright? When I was the one who started all this?” She gestured wildly around the ruins around her. Her knees knocked into each other and she sank down to the floor, burying her face in her hands, her whole body shaking with each sob.

“Sora,” Soreas tried desperately, “we still have to go and see if Mum and Dad are safe and sound. Let’s go, please. I can cover us with my wind.”

“Suit yourself. I’m _not _going,” said Sora, slapping his hand away. She was not sure if it was the ground or herself shaking as she raced past Soreas and out of the damaged doors. Outside, the dark night sky with its glittering stars taunted her every second as she watched her house tumble down and give way one by one. 

_What just happened? How did I cause our house to collapse? How did I cause the floor to tremble and splinter and give way? Did I manifest a new ability? What is it? _

Her mind ran through all the possible elvin special abilities that could have caused such a disaster, and the sickening realisation dawned on her. She looked down at her hands and gasped. Her fingertips were glowing with a strange yellowish light.

Her eyes roved over to the still-grassy pastures to her left, where a bed of morning glories hung dull and wilted over the night sky. These flowers only bloomed in the morning and the afternoon sun, where the light danced over them and made their curled petals unfurl. 

Slowly, shakily, Sora made her way over to the bed of flowers and kneeled beside an unopened spiral bud of morning glory and caressed its petals with a gentleness she didn’t know she had. She’d seen other people with this uncommon ability do the same— usually for entertainment, sometimes for display— but usually they were gnomes, the intelligent species who could make unbloomed flowers bloom like there was no tomorrow.

She watched in both amazement and disbelief as the unbloomed morning glory slowly stretched its petals outwards, unravelling into full bloom. The morning glory grew more radiant and brighter with each second of Sora’s touch, until Sora broke away from the flower and backed up a few steps, her hands still on the grassy ground. 

Sora realised her mistake too late, and she ripped her hands away from the grass and stood up on her bare feet. Making the morning glory bloom at night had been surprisingly therapeutic and calming, and she didn’t think any more mini earthquakes would come her way. Not for tonight, anyway.

The grass she had touched with her hands had grown longer and more slender, and it was visibly fresher and more lucid than the rest of the grassy plains. Shakily, Sora released a breath she hadn’t realise she’d been holding.

She was a_ Terrakinetic. _Deemed to be one of the rarest, and most destructive talents an elf could have. She supposedly now had some control over one of the four elements, just like Soreas, who had control over the element of air. And she had zero understanding or knowledge about it, except that she’d just learnt that her hands brought life while her feet brought destruction.

She needed her boots more than ever, and she knew they would survive this tumbledown. They were made out of elliniaum, a material that was fireproof, lightning-proof, shockproof and stainless all in one.

She closed her eyes and turned away from the awe-filled sight, instead turning her attention back to the home she’d just destroyed and hoping and praying with all her heart that Soreas and her parents would be alright.

_Coward coward coward. You’re such a coward. _

She might be spared from the sight of everything crashing down but the sound still rippled through her ears like a hypersonic soundwave and she could do nothing to stop it. She clamped her hands onto her ears, but even with the terrifying noise muffled, it was still bound to appear in her nightmares.

Despite her hypocrisy, she muttered under her breath, “Everything will be okay. _Everything will be okay.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yvonne: Hi guys! We originally posted this in FF.net (for years), and after much convincing (from me *cough*), we've decided to upload these chapters on AO3 too!! yayyyy haha (they're kinda mad at me for deleting our prev intro on ff.net, also if you wanna read up till chap 11, you can go there and view!! :) But anyway, thanks for clicking on this story!!! I'm HazardousDestiny, and my OC is Cordelia, who will be introduced in Chapter 3. A quick rundown of how this story works: this takes place 7 years before Sophie Foster was brought to the Lost Cities. Each main character (Sora, Avyela, and Cordelia) is mainly written by one of us here. The first few chapters are mainly separate storylines, although they take place at the same time. Eventually, the girls would meet (wait for it!!) and the storyline would condense into one main plot. Oof that was a long intro BUT when you read the next few chapters, it'll all make sense. Happy reading!! :)
> 
> Xylia: Hi my name is Xylia and my OC is Sora (yv: im the one writing all this rn so this is what she sent me hahah)
> 
> Audrea: .... I hate introductions. (yv: she was mad at me so she didnt put anything much lmaooo but her OC is Avy, who comes out in the next chap also she's gonna kill me heh)
> 
> Yeah..anyways thanks for looking thru this long A/N and have fun!!


	2. AVYELA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elves should be given the freedom to be who they wanted to be, after all, it is their own life. And that was what the Neverseen believed in, that and giving people a second chance.
> 
> They were far better than any other elven group, especially the pathetic group who dared call themselves the Black Swan. They had misused the name of a majestic, graceful creature that they certainly were not even close to being like.

**Chapter Two**

_She is the girl of nightmares and shadows. _

She could hear the screams. They were screams of fear and terror, sounds made by one who knew death was drawing near, and that escaping its clutches was impossible.

Avyela Ellis was perhaps the only wanted elf in at least a good millennia. After all, she was the only elf to have managed to run away from the Lost Cities, and right under the Council's nose too.

She was still young, barely 18 - still a baby in terms of elven years, and certainly too young to be a fugitive in the eyes of society. But her life had always been filled with unbelievable tragedies. At three, in the span of less than half a year, she had lost both her parents and her older brother in two separate incidents. She plunged Eternalia in darkness and terror when she was six, and ran away to join the Neverseen less than a month later. That had been her life since.

Avy jumped from branch to branch, quick to escape from the morbid scene of death and the sirens that were growing louder by the second.

A shadowy figure followed by her side, stumbling a little and quickly grabbing a branch above to steady herself before jumping off.

Following in the lead of her partner, Avy swung off the tree, landing stealthily, unlike her companion who made a loud thud, just like she always did.

Still in silence, the two grabbed their pathfinders and disappeared from the blazing forest.

"I better be reporting success." A voice grumbled as they landed in another forest, one almost identical to the previous, but without the blinding fires that were burning all life away. A figure stood there waiting with crossed arms, frowning at the two figures.

"Have I ever failed,  _ Eltanin _ ?" Avy replied with a scowl. The nerves of the boy in front of her were much unwelcoming. "Although I do believe that  _ Vega  _ will not be returning to our services. A shame too, I thought she'd be able to handle it."

Ignoring the question, the Neverseen recruit pursed his lips, "I shall tell _ him  _ then, but I imagined it comes as no surprise. She was too... hesitant to be able to control it."

With that, the boy swiftly returned to the hideout with a confident gait.

"I imagine he won't last long either," Avy remarked to her friend, Jin. The boy's confidence would one day be the death of him. Literally.

Changing the subject, she asked, "Do you think the fires would catch the Councillors' attention?"

"Well, it's your job to find that out isn't it?" Jin replied curtly before walking away.

Avy frowned at the hostility in her friend's tone and the abruptness of her friend's departure. It was unusual for her.

Jin Heks was usually light-hearted, and one for fun. An oddity among most of the Neverseen recruits. She was usually joking around, bringing laughter in what was originally a rather mundane and depressing place.

There were very few things that could unsettle Jin, and one of them was her family. Her pro-Black Swan family.

Jin had grown up in what was technically considered a normal household, with a set of supposedly normal parents and two siblings. She should've been happy, yet it was hatred and jealousy that had brought her into the arms of the Neverseen, although a little _ persuasion  _ didn't hurt either.

Avy wondered what could have happened to that perfect little family, which they were in the Council's eyes, after their rebellious child had left.

Shaking her head, Avy walked in the opposite direction towards the cliffs. She knew that her friend would never tell her.

Everyone in the Neverseen had their strange quirks, and she was no exception. Avy tended to distance herself, usually hiding away somewhere private like the comforts of her room. Other times, such as that day, Avy found herself wandering through the forest instead, making her way towards her own hiding spot.

The setting sun was casting shadows across the branches, a time she found perfect for clearing her head of all her troubles. It helped her sleep through the night- not that it had been helpful lately.

Avy easily found her way to a clearing in the forest, where there was a cliff looking down to the rough waters of the sea. It was a familiar spot that gave her comfort outside the usual hectic lifestyle she had, working for the Neverseen.

She climbed her way up a lone tree at the very edge of the cliff. It was a simple oak tree, about three times her height, nothing really special, it was a wonder how it had attracted Avy to it. A thin twig snapped beside her, falling into the abysmal ravine below. She perked her ears up trying to catch the sound of the twig landing, but the sound of cicadas and crickets covered up the noise. 

Avy leaned back into the tree, letting the shadows wrap around her like a blanket. There was something thrilling about being able to hide in the shadows, about being unseen even when someone stood before her. In all sense, she was technically  _ invisible _ .

Looking off into the sunset - a sight symbolizing the end of a passing day and the start of another new night - Avy recalled a time long ago, when she had been truly happy and satisfied with her life, back when it was not just her against the world, when it was not just one person for herself.

_ “Avs! Where did you go!” Avy’s then best friend- Ace yelled. _

_ “I’m right here, silly.” Avy giggled, hanging upside down on a tree branch. _

_ “My brother says you look like a bat.”  _

_ “Well, I am one.” _

_ "Really?" _

The two girls used to constantly play Base Quest with Acylia's siblings. And even as a child, she was always found high up on a tree branch, hiding from the other team so that she could unleash surprise attacks to protect their base.

Those were the few happy memories she had from her childhood living in Aldebaran with Lord and Lady Caverly after her parents died. She did not have many friends as a child either, only Ace and her siblings. She had always preferred to stick to herself. After all, how would she know which friends would betray her? 

Everything had been fine, until the shadows around her started acting up, doing peculiar things while she slept at night; messing up the house and bringing nightmares to the elves around her. It never made sense, even now, since she only manifested as a Shade when she was 12. 

Yet, everything had gone wrong one night when she was a mere six years old. Screams echoed through the city as garish nightmares invaded the sleep of all elves within the vicinity.

It was a frightening night. Everyone found themselves waking up with cuts and bruises, some even seriously injured. But no elf could remember any of their dreams, not even those with eidetic memories, all except that one elf who was still asleep, screaming her lungs out as shadows surrounded her, the full moon staring in her face, spreading darkness over her despite its silver, eerie glow that lit up the room where she laid.

No one had any recollection of that day anymore, only the Councilors, certain Emissaries, and of course, Avy herself. There were rumours, of course, but the Council did a good job of washing everyone's memories.  _ Too mentally scarring,  _ they said, although apparently not enough to wipe the memories from the child who had started it all.

Avy remembered the Tribunal. It was the scariest thing an elf could ever face, being the focus of the Council’s wrath— especially as a six-year-old child waiting for twelve adults to decide her fate. She had been all alone.

She remembered when they were placing their votes to decide whether she should be banished or not.

She remembered when it was all down to the final decision, the one she had been counting on. She thought he would always support her. 

That was the first of her many mistakes.

She remembered how she dared to look at Councillor Emery in the eye as he decided. She had hoped and prayed that this old family friend of her biological parents - who had comforted her when they died; held her when her brother had not returned alive - would be merciful.

Yet, he voted to banish her from the Lost Cities. Possibly for forever.

She had felt betrayed, not just by the Council Member she was told to call ‘Uncle’, but also by the rest of the council who had all known her parents, and her by extension. They were the very people she spent her first few years around, the ones who used to smile at her every day, and find time to talk to that once cheerful little elf despite their busy schedules. Yet most of them had voted to banish her, not even having the decency to look at her with their guilty looks.

Avy let out a frustrated sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, a common habit that appeared when she was thinking of her past.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she suddenly caught a flash of light.

Sticking close to the tree and in the shadows, Avy quickly got back onto the ground and walked in the direction of where she had seen the unnatural glimpse of light.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary but at a closer glance, she spotted a handheld mirror hiding between the tall blades of grass.

A sudden overwhelming sense of fear washed over her, and she broke the mirror and threw it as far as she could into the crashing waves below.

Avy clenched her fists tightly, ignoring the streams of blood on her knuckles from where the glass had cut.

She looked around frantically, relieved when she saw no one around. But she still decided to check her surroundings, just in case someone stumbled upon their hideout, or even worse, was looking for it.

By the time she got back to the hideout, the sun had completely set. 

" _ He  _ wants you in his office." The annoying boy from before told her as she walked through the doors of the training room. "Too bad to be you."

Avy rolled her eyes at  _ Eltanin _ , she didn't understand how he became a Neverseen member.  _ He  _ was rather intolerant of conceited elves.  _ Probably because he was one too.  _ Avy thought to herself.

Ignoring the Neverseen's messenger, Avy turned on her heels and left the smug boy behind.

Avy pondered over why she had been called as she walked deeper into the most secretive wing in their hideout. The walls seemed to change every few hours, at no set timing. If someone didn't know what to look out for, they’d find themselves completely lost and trapped, or so they thought.

_ His  _ wing was the most secure place in the whole hideout, which was saying something, with the high security their top Technopaths themselves had designed over the years. Only the leaders and few others truly knew their way around here.

She slipped through the slight gap in the door before it slammed shut behind her, finding herself once again in  _ his  _ office. While it wasn't completely normal for her to be in  _ his  _ office, it was not unusual either. She'd had her fair share of 'visits' over the past twelve years.

When Avy went in, she definitely had not expected to see another figure in the room besides _ him _ , especially not someone around her age.

The boy's eyes were a bright turquoise colour that reminded her of the ocean. But what really caught her attention was his surprisingly neat, blinding white hair, something that was certainly rarely seen.  _ Perhaps he was a Froster?  _ Avy wondered.

A short cough interrupted her and brought her attention to the dominant figure in the room. Startling sky blue eyes looked at her critically. The man before her had neat blonde hair that did nothing to cover the pointy ears he had. An aura of power and danger surrounded him.

_ Fintan Pyren. The Leader of the Neverseen. _

“A shadow-reading of the boy would be much appreciated, Wendy.” He spoke, impatience in his tone. The boy turned to look at her but Avy easily ignored his stare. She was used to it.

She was mildly annoyed that even though he was the only parental figure she had in the last twelve years - not that he was  _ fatherly _ in the slightest- he still couldn't remember her name.

Yet, she still quickly bowed her head in respect to her leader before nodding at her orders. In the three years that she lived with her adoptive parents, instead of looking after her, they had shoved her into redundant classes like etiquette and things Avy would have later learnt in Foxfire if not for her banishment.

Taking in a deep breath, Avy commanded her shadow to move over the boy, letting the darkness take over and slowly unveil the shadowvapor surrounding his mind.

It wasn't common for Avy to do such administrative work for the Neverseen, shadow-reading usually fell into the duties of the only other Shade they had. Umber was, after all, more powerful than she could ever be.

Of course, shadow-reading still wasn't a foreign concept for Avy, she frequently invaded the minds of those around her, wary of their intentions. The person whose Shadowvapor was being read usually only felt a small blizzard blast through their heads, it was a feeling most were unfamiliar with and hence never thought twice about.

But Avy was no Descryer, only Councillor Terik has that ability. As a Shade, she could only read a person's Shadowvapor, to find out how honest and trustworthy the elf was, as well as read their potential for darkness and discover how secretive they were.

_ This guy sure has a lot of secrets.  _ Avy thought to herself as she finished the reading and brought her shadow back where it belonged.

“It is unlikely he is a threat to us, although I recommend not counting on his honesty for a while,” Avy reported. The boy had a lot to hide, but there was something innocent about him, a lack of darkness that most Neverseen recruit's had a lot of.

_ Just like you.  _ Her conscious whispered in her head.

"He does not have much of a potential for darkness, which can be taken in two ways. On one hand, he will not do anything against his own morals without some persuasion, but at the same time, he will not betray us, or you." Avy warned.

Avy saw the boy look at her, and she looked right back with an intense stare. She hated it when people stared, it was extremely rude. 

But instead of looking away like most people did, his eyes just twinkled in amusement. Avy glared at him before she looked away and turned her attention back to _ him. _

“Well then, looks like we have ourselves a brand new recruit.”  _ He  _ spoke, clapping the boy’s back.

Avy backed off by a step.  _ He  _ was never this nice to anyone, and it set alarms off in her head.

It was rare enough for Fintan to recruit a Neverseen member, especially not at such a young age. There had been hardly any good news as of late, their plans constantly being ruined one way or another. Nothing was seeming to work for them, and the supposedly “big plans” one of their second-in-command leader - a mysterious blonde woman - was making didn’t seem very impressive at all. This had sparked caution in the Neverseen leaders, wary of another mole, not that it was likely, especially after the brutal way the previous had died.

Jolie Ruewen had been a much-needed asset to the Neverseen. While Avy had not been close to her, she had heard many stories. But she was found out to be a double agent for the dreaded Blackswan, and she had to be killed for it.

“Windora, let me introduce  _ Antares _ , our newest Empath, but most importantly, another  _ Pyrokinetic.  _ ” Fintan exclaimed, as a wide smirk appeared on his face.

Avy’s eyes widened in realization before narrowing into slits. Not only did he have the only ability that was banned in the Lost Cities, but he was also an Empath. That automatically marked him as dangerous, the perfect trait for a member of their organization.

Pyrokinesis was the ability that had the most cases out of all the troublesome abilities. Most Pyrokinetics also used their abilities against the Councillors’ rule, burning things down, not just in the Lost Cities, but the Neutral Territories and the Forbidden Cities as well.

But beyond that, it was a particular ability of theirs that was the greatest fear among most of the elves.

Everblaze. It was a wildfire that only one had been able to control. Fintan had tried many times and often failed, such as in the case of  _ Vega _ , the pyrokinetic Avy and Jin had brought to the Forbidden Cities, but failed to bring back.

Pyrokinetics were hence the most feared. Most elves saw them as power-hungry elves, elves that were willing to kill, even despite the guilt that would make them go insane. It only got worse when their ability was banned, and those without a second ability were branded Talentless, unable to work in the nobility, or continue with their studies in Foxfire. They were treated as outcasts.

It was no surprise that _ he _ would recruit him. A Pyrokinetic. After all, they were famous among their organization, were they not?

The Neverseen. A group of elves who work against the Council, who correct their mistakes, who will always do more than the twelve councillors would ever do. Most elves would probably see them as evildoers, but Avy knew better. The Council was wrong to have banned pyrokinesis. Dangerous or not, in a world where one’s ability defined them, it was who Pyrokinetics inherently were, and they should never have been branded terrible and labelled as dangerous for what they had no choice in. Nor should they have slapped a label on the Talentless— they were more useful, more level-headed, and definitely ten times smarter than any other elf.

The Councillors, while Avy would admit were not evil, had still done many terrible things— things they hide from the entirety of the intelligent species. Besides, why should elves have a bunch of more powerful people controlling them? Why have a group of nobles who look down on others? Like Dame Alina and Lord Quan? 

Elves should be given the freedom to be who they wanted to be, after all, it is their own life. And  _ that  _ was what the Neverseen believed in, that and giving people a second chance.

They were far better than any other elven group, especially the pathetic group who dared call themselves the Black Swan. They had misused the name of a majestic, graceful creature that they certainly were not even close to being like.

Avy hated them.

Avy was brought back to reality as Fintan spoke once again, either ignoring or blind to Avy's horrified expression. “There has been  _ talk  _ about a possible new Wayward, her Tribunal will confirm it, but from my  _ experiences,  _ I believe my ex-colleagues will choose to banish her, and I want you to find out who she is and whether we may have a new recruit in our hands. I believe your skills would be  _ useful  _ in her Dividing.”

“Of course.” Avy smirked at the possibility of being able to play around with her new found abilities.

“Ah, and before I forget, our new recruit will be joining you at Exillium next week as well.” 

“What?” The words slipped out of her mouth before she could filter them. “I mean, of course, sir. But may I enquire for the reason why he needs to join me in Exillium?”

“You have been on this mission for 5 years already, and you have only came back with one result, who may I remind you that  _ you  _ never caught.” He replied, no doubt annoyed at her tone.

“Well, she’s dead, is she not?” Avy retorted. Unfortunately, she could hardly remember much from that mission four years ago with how messed up her mind was at that time.

It was her one of her many jobs to try and find any possible Black Swan members who were attending Exillium. However, she had only managed to get close to completing her mission once, and the girl had run away, only to be killed by Everblaze that  _ he _ had set.

“Of course she is,”  _ he  _ said irritably. “That is all for the topic.”

Avy nodded her head, giving up on her argument. Very few could push him, and Avy was not going to try her luck again. The ex-Councilor was an impatient man who did not tolerate rudeness and disrespect, and he was not afraid to punish any who defied him in the most scarring and morbid way possible.

Most elves could not even condone the thought of violence. Guilt was the worst emotion an elf could ever feel, it was their biggest weakness, it was what broke them. She had much to feel guilty over, but she had been taught to set aside those feelings, normally resulting in her finding one of the Washers to erase it after she had recorded it down in her own personal safe, similar to the Councillors’ caches, and everyone else in the Neverseen had gone through the same process, their leader was no exception at all.

With a nod, Avy swiftly walked out of the office, the new recruit -  _ Antares, his code name, she remembered -  _ following behind her.

“You’re the Shade around here.” The boy critically stated. Avy ignored his stare, she was used to things like that. 

“Last I checked.” She replied curtly, her voice betraying her boredom. “You have many secrets, kid. You better make sure no one around here finds out how many.” She knew as she turned to look at him in the eyes, so that he could sense her wariness around him.

“Yes, I can sense the lack of trust you have in me." The guy replied, clearly offended. Empaths were another group of elves she despised, they were too invasive for her.

Avy let her intense gaze be seen before she spoke, “I have no reason to trust you.”

“What’s your name?”

Reaching her room, she went in before replying, “You don’t need to know. We’re just two elves in the same organization. I don’t need to know your name, and you don’t need to know mine. End of story.”

The guy opened his mouth like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it and closed it, shaking his head as turned to walk away.

Avy hesitated before she closed her door. "My code name is  _ Auva.” _ She told him, not entirely sure what it was that compelled her to say it.

It was only then that Avy realized how familiar the new guy looked. The eye colour, a greener shade of turquoise that seemed to sparkle like crystals in the light. And the shape of his face…

_ Why? Why did he look so familiar… yet not? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi guys, this is Audrea! The italicized names are code names by the way, not their real ones. Anyways, hope you have enjoyed our story thus far, we have much more to share. The last ( and certainly not least ) of the three girls will be introduced next chapter ( yayy! ) which should be out next week. Thanks for reading!


	3. CORDELIA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forget her mission. This was even bigger news, the Black Swan would probably not realise the extent of this new Pyrokinetic's powers until he had released them. After years of observing the Neverseen, she understood most of their tactics. They would wait, biding their time, and finally strike when their enemies were weak. And only then.
> 
> That extent of power just might be able to bring the Black Swan to its knees. The Neverseen had always exerted their members' powers to their greatest potential, and she highly doubted that they would change that now.

**Chapter Three**

_She is the girl everyone thinks they understand._

A scream reverberated through the halls of Huldlot, sending the dwarves working in the back porch into furious chatter, wondering what sort of prank the young mistress of the house had pulled this time. A few of them peeked through the windows of the kitchen, erupting into peals of laughter at the scene, only to be shushed by their giggling peers. The setting sun cast long shadows along the porch.

On the third floor, a petite teenage girl sniggered, making her way downstairs with glee. _ It worked. _She smugly grinned to herself.

"What's going on now Aya—" Cordelia Malum stopped suddenly, sending an amused look to her adoptive mother - the powerful Emissary, Ayagi Larayna.

Said Emissary was currently huddled on a bar stool, having a staring competition with small - and harmless - grey mouse. And losing.

Seeing Corey enter the room, the mouse squeaked and scurried over, causing Ayagi to fall off the bar stool with a piercing scream.

"Seriously mum?" The girl openly laughed as the mouse vanished, leaving a tall, dark-haired man in its place. That was Sevdaís Dispettò, close family friend, Corey's own father figure, and famed illusionist.

Both partners-in-crime shared a high-five as they looked pityingly at the scowling woman on the floor, who childishly crossed her arms but huffed good-naturedly. "How many times exactly have the both of you done that?"

"Dunno, but yet you still fall for it _ every _single time." Came the cheeky retort.

With a growl, Ayagi leapt towards the prankster duo, starting a mock fight that lasted for a good several minutes. Outside, the dwarves smiled, enjoying the little domestic scene in front of them. Some of them shuffled off, continuing the rest of their errands.

On the surface, this family seemed like a typical elvin aristocratic family, readying themselves for a quaint homemade dinner.

But this family wasn't your typical, run-of-the-mill household.

"Well, I'm off!" Like a young schoolgirl, Corey chirped brightly, grinning at the two groaning adults who were still slowly picking themselves off the floor.

"Sure thing, have fun sweetie," Sevdaís replied, the illusionist sharing a smile with Ayagi. Wiping a fake tear from his eye, he stage-whispered to the taller woman. "Our little girl's all grown up, look at her going to the enemy's hideout to-"

"Shh!" A loud shush from both females stopped him from continuing his tangent. Visibly affronted, he raised his hands in a _ what-did-I-do _gesture.

Corey's upbringing was… unusual, to say the least. After her birth parents, Black Swan members Chari and Stark Malum, were killed in a freak accident involving a rampaging unicorn, Corey was involved in a long and lengthy court battle involving her mother's estranged relatives and her then-godmother Ayagi. But Corey knew her parents' deaths were no accident. It was murder. Corey didn't need any concrete evidence to know that.

So what if she wanted vengeance? Wasn't it the duty of a daughter? Wasn't it natural?

It took half a year after the incident, when nine years old, before she found out the truth about everything. She hunted Mr Forkle down and asked, begged, hemmed and hawed, she even threatened to hunt the murderers down herself. She nearly did.

Boy, she was persistent.

Eventually, he cracked. But due to her inexperience that came with her young age, Mr Forkle had ensured that she had completed a long, exhaustive list of prerequisites before she could do anything.

Immediately after that day, she started physical training with Ayagi. It was hell. But it was worth it. She immediately started work after passing, attending Exillium as compulsory education.

Five months before she turned eleven, after a particularly bad nightmare, Corey had heard Ayagi's panicked thoughts as she rushed over to console a teary Corey, officially manifesting as a Telepath. 

On her thirteenth birthday, just as she was visiting her parents' Wanderlings, the flood of emotions triggered her manifestation as a Hydrokinetic, nearly flooding the place as a result.

She dedicated her life to her cause.

Light flashed across her eyes, pushing Corey's gloomy thoughts to the back of her head. A large Golden Retriever lumbered in Sevdaís' place, collapsing in the currently vacant dog bed and falling asleep. His hind legs stuck out and his head was smushed uncomfortably against the side, Corey couldn't understand how he managed to fall asleep so easily in that position, that bed was simply too small.

With a roll of her eyes, Corey walked back up to her room, grabbed a bag sitting innocently in her dresser, and clambered out of the window. The evening light caught the lighter streaks in her hair, momentarily bleaching them gold. As she jumped into the moat below her, light caught on the pathfinder and flashed into her eyes.

The location's name was drowned by the thundering crash of the waterfalls spilling from the house.

* * *

It was originally Sevadís' idea for a spy to infiltrate the enemy for the Black Swan. Even though things had gone terrifyingly wrong the last time with the late Jolie Ruewen, a former Black Swan member, it still couldn't hurt to follow in her footsteps and dig a little further.

But the problem was that Jolie hadn't left _ anything _ behind, not a single report about her time with the enemy, so Corey had to start from scratch. It was exhausting working for both sides, trying to convince the enemy that she was faithful towards them and only them, and trying to accomplish her original mission at the same time: to root out spies and recruit Black Swan members in Exillium. It should have been easy enough, given her telepathic ability, but apart from the fact that there were three Hemispheres, Corey was only able to scan the minds of select people in her group.

Damn Exillium and their bloody mind blocking training.

Corey was torn back into her current situation, a scream ripping out from her mouth as she materialized a meter above the ground, just barely catching herself from stumbling into the nearby bushes as she landed. Her temporary leaping crystal disintegrated as she rummaged through the bushes in the frantically dimming light, all the while furiously muttering to herself.

"Where is it…" Being the top-secret association they were, travelling to any Neverseen hideout was both tedious and time-consuming. It was a smart safety precaution, of course.

Several years ago, when she was still gaining the trust of the organization, one of the pathfinders had landed her in perhaps the most disgusting dumpster she had unfortunately ever been in. Forced to sit there while trying to solve the almost impossible puzzle box they left behind— in which consisted of another temporary leaping crystal— the memory of the stench was still fresh in her head to this day.

Suddenly, she stopped in her search, eyes widening in unspoken horror. How could she have been so careless?

Muttering curses under her breath, Corey hastily pulled out multiple bottles and flasks out of her bag, nearly dropping them in the process. A few swigs were all it took to change her pale-yellowish skin into a warm caramel, and her icy eyes into a dark shade of indigo blue. When she threw her black cloak over her shoulders, her transformation was complete, her disguise in place.

No longer was she Cordelia Malum, daughter of Chari and Stark Malum, the current adoptive daughter of Emissary Ayagi Larayna. She was now Seraphina Rache, a full-fledged member of the Neverseen. It was time to do some serious acting.

Now, what was Cordelia doing here? And what should Seraphina be doing _ now _?

Spotting a small lacquered box tucked under a leaf, Seraphina gingerly bent down to pluck the box out with dainty fingers.

"Ah." She held up a glittering silvery-blue crystal rock, which instantaneously brought her to a humid and misty forest in the middle of nowhere. As Seraphina landed gracefully on her feet, the pungent smell of mud assaulted her senses, causing her to scrunch up her nose in disgust.

"Sera!" Turning around, she found herself tackled into a bear hug. It was a wonder how her hood was still up when she had finally managed to free herself from the iron grip.

With blonde hair, turquoise eyes, and an olive complexion, Guster Rasota Ovida was Seraphina's best friend and undoubtedly one of the prettiest teenagers in Neverseen. Her parents were part of the Neverseen as high ranking members, so she was let off relatively easily when it came to her testing. But her innocent, doe-eyed looks were only an illusion hiding how dangerous the girl truly was.

Corey was, without her realization even, fooled once. Rasota was beautiful - crushingly so. Perhaps that's why she had dated Alex, during her short stint in the Forbidden Cities. Perhaps why they broke up. They looked too similar, too unnerving, having to look into brown eyes and wishing that they were blue. Or was it the other way round?

Crushes aside, she was still the first member of the Neverseen to trust her, albeit not completely. Although that was, of course, understandable. How could anyone trust someone in an organization that constantly refused to give the truth? But all things being said, she was still a rather close friend of hers, and Seraphina - even Cordelia - acknowledged the fact that if it wasn't for Rasota, she would've lost her mind a long time ago. She was undeniably valuable.

As to friends outside of her operative life, she had only _ one _, and he didn't count.

"It's been such a long time since you've come over!" Off mission, Rasota was a bouncing ball of excitement and enthusiasm, but Seraphina knew better than anyone that she was still as ruthless as the rest of the Neverseen when it came to her missions.

"I _ know _ right. I swear, my mother is _ such _ a hypocrite. This morning, she just barged into my room while I was doing my makeup to ask me to do c _ hores. _ Like, who even does that any more? Just ask one of the dwarves! " Groans and an eye-roll were executed to make the lie seem convincing. She tended to blabber on and on, exaggerating details when she was lying, and despite the countless times she had practised, her nervousness still slipped through sometimes.

Keeping up a lie at all times was simply _ exhausting _ and mentally impossible to sustain. But she was still partially telling the truth. Ayagi _ had asked _ her to do many things, so many that she was only able to take a break that day.

Rasota's eyes narrowed slightly, but after a split second all traces of suspicion vanished and she grabbed Seraphina's arm excitedly, squealing, "C'mon, let's take a look at the newest recruit! I've heard rumours that he's fucking _ hot _!"

_ Seriously? _ She thought to herself. Rasota may be one of the youngest as well as one of the deadliest assassins in the Neverseen, but when it came to boys, she went completely _ crazy _. Not exactly Corey's cup of tea, but each to its own.

Seraphina stifled her sigh and shook her head, saying, "Nah, it's okay. I just sneaked out to see if they have anything for me. Besides, if he's a newcomer, it means we'll be seeing him around a lot, wouldn't..." She trailed off and craned her head to the side, surveying her surroundings. Something felt off.

"Ras? Why is the forest so quiet?"

It was true. It almost seemed as if the forest was holding its breath, waiting for something, _ anything, _ to happen.

Was it just her imagination, or did the shadows seem a little darker, the moonlit forest a little gloomier, and the crashing of the waves on the shore a little less soothing, but rather more like bones splintering and crunching? She suppressed the shiver that went down her spine at the thought.

It all reminded her of that fateful day, the day where she lost almost everything.

"_ Mama… Papa… don't leave me…" A young girl, just a few weeks after her ninth birthday, had kneeled before two recently planted Wanderlings. Flowers and candles had surrounded the mounds of soil, mourning the loss of the two precious Elvin lives. _

_ It was pouring as if the heavens had decided to take pity and cry in memory of the deceased, akin to the tears flowing from the young girl's eyes. Many friends and family of the deceased had crowded around the Wanderlings, expressing their sympathy and sorrow, shedding tears, some even openly crying into their handkerchiefs. But none had expressed more agony than the little girl who had broken down in despair, collapsing before her parents' graves as sobs wracked her thin body. _

_ No one had the heart to berate her for showing disrespect. They had been, after all, both only forty-seven when they died. They, according to Elvin standards, had died extremely, no, _ ridiculously _ young. _

_ Everyone knew the details of how they died— an accident involving an incensed unicorn had resulted in their deaths, as they sacrificed their lives to protect their daughter and another young child who had fainted due to her severe head injuries after the unicorn had collided painfully with the poor child. But some knew better. It had been a deliberate murder, aimed to kill. _

_ The girl was pitied, having seen her parents' deaths take place before her eyes. Some wondered how she would be able to manage the guilt. Others doubted that she was able to handle the guilt at all, mentally preparing themselves for another planting. _

_ Suddenly, a young woman with hair darker than a raven's wings, with ears that placed her as the same age as the deceased, stepped forward and placed a cloak over the girl's shoulders. Looking up, the girl whimpered, "Ayagi…", she was barely able to let out before she once again broke into uncontrollable sobs. _

_ The woman kneeled and wrapped the girl into a tight embrace, whispering words that can only be described as comforting to both of them who had lost loved ones, unheard to the ears of the casual observers, as she patted her back comfortingly. Needing no words, the girl responded by circling her thin arms around her, clinging on to her godmother like she was a lifesaver - which to the young girl, she was. The intensity of the grip seemed painful, but the woman showed no signs of pain, pulling the girl even closer into her embrace instead. _

_ After what seemed like an eternity, a young man stepped out of the throngs of surrounding elves and placed a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder. His eyes looked like they sparkled often, but they weren't sparkling now— they were brimming with sadness and hidden fury. _

"_ Aya…" he breathed softly. "We… we gotta go.." _

_ Still hugging the girl, the woman stood back up, tightly carrying the girl up with her, like there was nothing more valuable to the broken figure. It looked as if she, as well, had been trying to hold her tears back. Stiffly nodding, they prepared to leave, but the girl's sudden shout had halted them in their tracks. _

"_ Wait!" she had blurted out. "I…I wanna— I gotta say goodbye to them." _

_ Silently nodding her permission, the woman gently put her down. The girl ran over to where her parents' Wanderlings were planted, mouthing words inaudible to anyone but herself, the little girl had bidden farewell to her parents, bowed, and walked away shakily. _

_ Weeks later, word had spread that the girl had been adopted by a friend of her parents, Council Emissary Ayagi Larayna. Those who had attended the funeral recognized her as the woman who had comforted the child, but she had previously, and still was trying to lead a private life, and soon, most had forgotten that the Malums a child, a daughter. They were remembered for their blatant stances on twins, vehemently rejecting those who held stigma against these children. But people refused to about them, fearing the spread of their 'ideology'. They were remembered. _

_ There was a dispute for the possession of the child, the rumours flew: how the mother's estranged brother, her uncle, longed to gain custody of the child; how the silent fury that came lasted for months. But, in the end, how the Emissary finally kept the child. Rumours of foul play swirled, but there was nothing concrete and the family went forgotten by most. _

_ However, those who could remember could never forget the tear-stained face of that young girl, weeping in absolute agony as she kneeled before the Wanderlings, her shaking legs too weak to support her heavy heart. _

_ How could they? _

"—Sera? Sera! SERA!" A yell jolted her back into the present. Rasota stood in front of her with her hands on her hips, turquoise eyes - half-hidden by her hood - flashing in anger, laced with the barest hint of concern. _ I must've zoned out again, _ Seraphina realized, _ distracted. _

"I— I'm sorry, what were you saying again?" She inwardly cringed at how her voice trembled from the look Rasota had given her. _ Dammit, she must've said something important! Concentrate, Seraphina, concentrate! _She simply couldn't afford to lose focus.

"As I was _ saying," _ Rasota emphasized with a cross tone, " _ He's _ here today. And I heard rumours that the new boy's another Empath, and another Pyrokinetic."

That explained why the air felt so— _ dry _. Widening her eyes, she couldn't help but tremble a little again, which, fortunately, went unnoticed by Rasota.

Three Pyrokinetics. If the Neverseen had recruited another Pyrokinetic to join their ranks and train, it would only spell bad news for the Black Swan.

_ Pyrokinesis… that included Everblaze _. One of the only fires that couldn't be put out with water. As a Hydrokinetic, it shook her to her core. Even if he didn't know how to create the deadly fire, she knew that Brant or Fintan, those psychopaths, would teach him sooner or later.

She had to inform the Black Swan immediately. They had to know.

As the thought hit her, her knees finally gave way, and she collapsed onto the damp floor of the forest. Moisture seeped through her clothes, but she gave it no mind. Moisture was good for her, it always healed all Hydrokinetics and would also help calm her down.

After her parents died, Ayagi, who was already like a mother to Corey, had taken her under her wing, adopting her and raising Corey as her daughter. Sevdaís, although having no obligations towards Corey, still visited frequently, acting as the father in their makeshift family.

_ Family. _ She had already lost one family, she can't lose another. There was another reason why the Neverseen had to be taken down: not just to protect her own family, but also the families of others, the families of innocent elves. No child should witness what she had.

Seraphina closed her eyes for what felt like an extended second as she lay on the muddy ground.

"Sera! What happened? Are you okay?" Rasota asked worryingly.

Forget her mission. This was even bigger news, the Black Swan would probably not realise the extent of this new Pyrokinetic's powers until he had released them. After years of observing the Neverseen, Seraphina understood most of their tactics. They would wait, biding their time, and finally strike when their enemies were weak. And only then.

That extent of power just _ might _be able to bring the Black Swan to its knees. The Neverseen had always exerted their members' powers to their greatest potential, and she highly doubted that they would change that now.

"I don't feel so well… I'm heading home." Shakily, she quickly sprouted out the lie, another one to top the pile she was already carrying. Well, not created, since Aya had been the one who made the excuse, but it was towards the other Black Swan members whenever Corey had needed to go home and sleep, especially if she had been working too much in the hideout. Especially when she was younger. Sleep had never come easily to her. It still didn't.

Hearing Rasota's suggestion to go home, her face still stricken with concern, she felt her lips break out into a tired smile, still playing the part of the currently exhausted Seraphina. "Thanks, Ras…Could you help me tell _ him _ ? Wouldn't want _ him _suspecting me, wouldn't we."

Telling Rasota another lie— or was it the truth— Seraphina pulled out her pathfinder, accepted the temporary leaping crystal that Rasota had already pressed into her hands, and got ready to vanish home. Or at least, Rasota was supposed to believe that was what she was going to do. However, someone — was that _ white _ hair?— had suddenly emerged before she could vanish, stepping out from the darkness of the seemingly empty forest.

Instinctively, Seraphina dropped to the floor, years of training kicking in.

Seraphina stifled her scream as her pathfinder slipped out of her hand and tumbled to the ground. Thank goodness she was wearing black clothes. Holding her breath, she tried to blend into the darkness of the night.

_ That must be him. _ The boy had white hair, and pale skin, his face almost completely devoid of blood. The only spot of colour on him was his piercing blue eyes. He looked simply _ hilarious. _ His hands, tensed and clenched into fists at his sides, were littered with tiny scratches and burn scars. He wore them like medals _ . _Rasota seemed to have come to the same conclusion of his identity, as she tossed her hair and fluttered her eyelashes. Corey felt like throwing up.

He _ reeked _of newness.

_ Well, he's sorta okay-looking… if you like people who look like clowns, that is, _she reasoned with herself, trying her best to hide her obvious snickering. He was simply not her type. At all.

Alas, not everything went to plan, as he heard her muffled laughter, and looked down, right at where she was still lying on the ground.

_ Crap. I've been spotted. _

Tightening the strap of her belt, Corey stretched her consciousness out to brush against the new boy's mind. Then, she rose to her feet calmly, brushing the dirt off her clothes, and lifted her chin as she turned to face him, a smile already plastered on her face. She did all this in an unhurried fashion, lest she did something even worse to lose her face. She might be a dirty spy, a liar for all of her life, but she still had her pride and dignity.

She knew she had succeeded when Rasota smiled in approval. Ras might have been trying to impress the new guy in an entirely unflattering way, but she knew when someone was just the right amount of cool.

Raising an eyebrow, the new recruit opened his mouth and spoke. "The _ hell _?" He spoke condescendingly like he wasn't impressed at all.

_ Like his clown disguise could do better. _

Hearing those two words come out of his mouth, so different from Rasota's strong approval, she could feel her frustration reach boiling point.

Her temper had been getting harder and harder to control as the days slipped past. The stress of being a double agent was finally getting to her— and he was just the icing on the cake. The recruit just had to change everything in the game.

Before she realised what she was doing, she retorted, "What's your problem?" And with that, she slapped him hard on the cheek, feeling the sting on her palm.

When her hand came into contact with his face, she inwardly cursed. _ Dammit _. She was currently Seraphina, not Cordelia. Seraphina was cold and calculating in missions and a complete bitch outside of it. Corey might act like a bitch sometimes, but that was just a mask. Sassing people was so much more fun than bitching around.

"Hmph. You didn't react fast enough. Newbie." Seeing no other way out of this, she scoffed at him and muttered a quick goodbye and short thank you to Rasota— who looked at her with an indistinguishable emotion in her eyes — raised her pathfinder, and vanished home.

When she landed in front of the grand mansion, the dwarven guards nodding as they let her strut past the sterling silver gates, she recalled what she had seen in the guy's head: Embarrassment; anger; and slight frustration. _ Fucking Empaths. _

(She knew it broke every law as a Telepath to read one's mind without permission, but she had never been one for the rules.)

Sighing, she threw her arms back and yelled to the sky, causing a few skittish birds to fly away.

Corey stared at the blank space in front of her, brooding over what she'd just found out. _ Great. Not only was he _ a Pyrokinetic _ , but he was also an Empath. _Empaths were always such annoying people to be around.

But it wasn't the time to dwell on matters like these. Footsteps thudding on the metal bridge, she rushed across the moat, unlocking the heavy doors with a glance. 

“Aya! I need to talk to the Boss_!_ _It's important!”_

She didn't realise that at that time, but her days were going to become much more interesting.

Somewhere far away, someone grinned. _ It has begun. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey wassup!! Yvonne here, and my girl Corey finally makes her AO3 debut whooooo; in case anyone was wondering:
> 
> Xylia: To clear things up, this is a three-way collaborative fanfic written by Xylia Neo, HazardousDestiny (Yvonne), and AudreaJ (she's only on FF.net for the moment).  
Sora Heks is Xylia Neo's OC, Avyela Ellis is AudreaJ's OC, and Cordelia Malum is HazardousDestiny's OC.  
Chapter One was written by Xylia, Chapter Two was written by Audrea, and Chapter Three is written by Yvonne, etc.
> 
> Yvonne: Basically, what she meant was: this is the contribution of three girls to the KOTLC fandom. I write in Corey's pov, Audrea writes in Avy's pov, and Sora writes in Sora's pov. There are no chapter rules, no, oh chapter 1,4,7 is Sora's, and so on. Have fun reading! No flames or spoilers too.
> 
> Audrea: Hey, thanks for reading and all the support! I hope those two cleared any confusion up. We'll be updating until we reached what we have posted on FF.net. Can't wait to hear your comments, feel free to send criticism too, thanks.


	4. SORA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You could have had it all, you know.
> 
> "Staying behind here would mean I would have nothing left."
> 
> “It’s just going to get worse from here onwards.”
> 
> “I know. But… we won’t be alone. And that makes all the difference.”
> 
> This is for a brighter future. This is for a time where everything will be perfect and everyone will be happy.
> 
> This is our time.

**Chapter Four**

_ Let the revolution begin. _

Soundlessly, she slipped the gloves onto her hands. She wanted to marvel at how the smooth, silky fabric felt nothing but a second skin clinging to her perfectly, but the lump in her throat made her do otherwise.

There were so many people, so many people watching her, more than she had ever known in her short-lived life of seventeen years. They were a stark contrast to the comfortable feeling the gloves gave her— the stares seemed even more piercing than the usual ones she got when she passed through the Foxfire hallways, more venomous, more dangerous.

It felt like the whole world was breathing down her neck. It felt like the entirety of her house crashing down on her family once again. It felt like the very split second when her twin sister’s boots struck her table lamp and sent it shattering into a million itty bitty pieces.

Twelve elves, ominous and intimidating, sat regally on their crystal thrones before her eyes, their piercing eyes fixed on her and her alone. Most of them were glaring at her, a bunch of them were giving her stern looks that matched Dame Alina’s, and only two of them were looking at her with pity and sympathy. Usually, Sora hated anything, _ anything _to do with the Council, but at this moment, she strangely found those two Councillors affectionate and warm.

Sora wasn’t exactly sure what their names were, but she did not want to seem rude, so as she pretended to smooth down a non-existent wrinkle in her right glove, her eyes stole a quick flicker at the two Councillor’s thrones, which were positioned next to each other, as if fate had brought two kindred spirits together. Suddenly, their names popped up in her head.

_ Kenric and Oralie. _

Despite her attempt to try and sneak, her eyes accidentally locked with Kenric’s. Kenric looked surprised for a moment, but after that, he got over himself and smiled warmly at Sora.

Sora was stunned for a second— she had never had anyone on the high and mighty Council even break the slightest smile at her, a soon-to-be banished elf. But if Kenric knew that she was a member of the clandestine organisation, the Black Swan, he wouldn’t have even thought to be cordial to her Shaking her head to clear her brooding thoughts, she turned away abruptly and focused on something of unimportance, such as how pointy Councillor Bronte’s ears were. With those super-pointy ears, she wondered how he would put on a hat, or even his circlet that he had managed to place perfectly on his head.

“Miss Heks,” Bronte said suddenly, after clearing his throat loudly and receiving no reply from Sora, who was still concentrating on the pointiness of his ears. “Miss Heks!”

Sora jumped in surprise, making the audience sitting behind her explode in amused laughter. Even Kenric, Oralie, and a whole lot of other Councillors she didn’t know cracked a smile. “Y—yes, Councillor Bronte?” She dipped an awkward curtsy just in time. That was supposed to mollify Bronte, but he only narrowed his eyes at her even more.

Sora tried not to notice Soreas, who was sniggering behind her. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he had been crying, but Sora knew his laugh when he had one. She did not realise she was staring at his face in a wistful expression, until their eyes met. Soreas sat frozen for a second, but after an uncomfortable second, he smiled sadly at her, making her wonder if he had also guessed what her punishment would be already.

She tried to scour out Mr Forkle in the crowd, but she knew he would not be here. He was probably still in the Forbidden Cities, looking after the _suldreen. _

Thinking of Project Moonlark made her gather her nerves together and clench her fists to help her concentrate. _ She_ was the one who made Sophie Foster possible. Not the only one, but the moonlark would not be who she was now if it was not for her.

She needed to stay strong for _her. _ For the Black Swan.

She could not break in front of the people who had destroyed this world, who did not even believe that the Black Swan existed, who would face their downfall and see what kind of world they had shaped out of their own hands.

“I see you’re paying attention now,” Councillor Emery told Sora bluntly, eliciting a few snickers from the crowd. “You are in no position to space out at all. Have you no idea of what you have done?”

Sora now knew the reason why Councillor Emery was the spokesperson for the Council. He had a certain way with words that made people feel whatever he wanted to feel. And now, having been reminded of everything that had just happened in the short period of less than an hour, her throat went dry and her hands became slick with sweat again. The world flickered before her eyes like it was trying to replay all her wrongs, and she started to tremble uncontrollably. Blurry images flashed before her eyes, morphing Councillor Emery’s face into Soreas’s scared one, and the whispers in the crowd behind her suddenly became clear to her ears.

_ “She killed Calsa and Krebbe…” _

_ “Talk about an unfilial daughter…” _

_ “I’ve had enough of her…” _

_ “Banish her from here! Send her to Exillium!” _

_ “She’s just out of control…Isay we throw her into Exile instead…” _

Emery sighed, cutting through the whispers and sending Sora back to reality. “Please quieten down as the other Councillors and I make our final decision. Miss Heks, please step back and take your seat beside your brother for the moment. Prepare yourself for the worst.”

_ What does he mean? What does he mean? _

_ You know what he means. _

Sora barely remembered to nod and curtsy again as she stumbled into the seat beside Soreas. Everything in her seemed to hurt, and she stared at her gloves, then her feet. Jin’s boots had been recovered from the debris, and it had been sent to her, but she had the horrible feeling she would have to wear a different pair of boots from later onwards.

“Hey,” whispered someone from above her. The whispers had died down, only leaving a few murmurs here and there. Sora frowned at the sudden voice— was it speaking to _her? _It seemed so, and it obviously wasn’t Soreas. But it could be only trying to personally spite her…

Then again, it could actually be someone from the Black Swan, trying to communicate to her. Although anyone trying to communicate Black-Swan-related things in front of the Council was an idiot.

Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and turned her head around slightly, her eyes scanning for the one who was trying to speak to her. Everyone flinched at her gaze running through them, and immediately averted their eyes, but it was clear that one person didn’t falter from her stare at all.

Sora frowned again. She immediately recognised that boy— she would know his parents anywhere. They didn’t really talk in school, and they didn’t really know each other as well, but often being the centre topic of gossip of the whole Level Seven cohort, Sora was pretty sure he knew her only from the small talk about her.

Elian Fellers might not know anything about her at all, but she knew him like the back of her hand. It was one good thing about having two abilities— it often came with a flawless photographic memory and a wondrous skill to remember everything she’d been told.

“Yes?” she asked stiffly, silencing all the other elves’ conversations and turning their attention to the two of them. From the corner of her eye, Sora could see Soreas narrow his eyes at Elian— but she was used to that. Soreas was often overprotective of who she often interacted with, but that was especially strange in this case, since Soreas actually knew Elian quite well.

Elian tossed his fawn-coloured hair out of his eyes, and gave Sora a subtle wink. Sora frowned even more, but made no move to interrupt him as he said, “Everyone knows you’d be sent off to Exillium, and since we’ll never see you in the Lost Cities anymore, I just wanted to make use of this time to say that I don’t actually think you’re _ that _ bad. My parents often speak good of you and you sound like a great person. I—I know we haven’t really talked to each other before but I will miss you. So will my parents.”

The only thing Sora could think of right after he finished his speech was, “Oh boy, I don’t think you know what connections exactly your parents have with me.”

_ Also, are you kidding me? _ You’ll _miss me? Who do you think you are? You didn’t even make the effort to talk to me at all before_ this_ happened. _

But all she said to him was, “Well, you’re right about only one thing, and that is, I’ll really be sent to Exillium. No one here will ever see me again. And how can you say you'll miss me? I bet you'll forget all about me afterwards.”

Elian only smiled at Sora's challenging and dubious tone. “That's why we're lucky that you and I both have a photographic memory. We'll never forget each other as long as we live.”

Sora snorted at that. “‘We’? ‘Never forget each other as long as we live’? Who do you think you are, my husband? Dream on.”

Yet, the affectionate words kept repeating over and over again in her mind, causing heat to rush to her cheeks. Probably because of how outrageous he had been. Elian Fellers was as weird as his parents, who worked in the Black Swan as helpers and messengers like her. Who was he to declare her to do anything? He didn't even know that his parents were members of their order.

A bell rang and drowned out Elian’s reply, and everyone turned their attention back to the Council. Sora wanted to clutch Soreas’s hand in hers, but realised with a pang that Soreas was not looking at her at all. She bit the inside of her cheek and fumed silently when she played back the happenings just now and realised that if Elian didn’t interrupt, Sora and Soreas could have had their last moment together in peace.

But now, there wasn’t even any time to do anything. And Soreas probably hated her now for spending all her final time in the Lost Cities with a guy she barely knew personally.

Then again, it was her fault that she caused all this to happen. Even if she was a child, even if she had only just manifested her second ability as a Terrakinetic, even if it was not on purpose, there was no erasing the fact that she had singlehandedly destroyed her family’s house and murdered her parents in a blink of an eye.

She was dangerous.

She was not to be mercied.

“The Council has made their final decision,” Councillor Emery began, his voice booming all around the Tribunal Hall, reaching into everyone’s ears.

The hairs on Sora’s neck stood up, as if actually bracing for the critical hit. He motioned Sora to rise, and she urged her knees not to bang into each other as she stepped closer onto the podium, right in front of all the twelve Councillors.

“On the 29th of February, Sora Heks manifested as a Terrakinetic and lost complete control of her ability, destroying her family’s residence area, Mettle Manor, beyond repair, and taking away two innocent lives, Calsa and Krebbe Heks.

“From this moment, Sora Heks will thus be banished from all of the Lost Cities for as long as she may live, and never to come back unless granted full permission directly from the Council.”

She had already been preparing herself for this moment, but somehow it still hit her hard. Feeling a need to get away from the suffocating scene, she stumbled back a few steps, bumping into Soreas. She bit back her gasp and stepped up to the podium again, cursing herself for messing up.

“Take off her registry pendant,” Councillor Emery ordered. It could just be her ears playing tricks on her, but Sora thought she heard him mutter, “Why do I always have to deal with nonsense like this? That Shade girl already caused enough trouble by giving everyone nightmares and injuring them. Now this Terrakinetic girl has to show up and become a murderer.” The last word echoed in Sora’s mind, playing over and over again like a broken record.

_ Murderer. Murderer. Murderer. _

The whole Tribunal Hall was filled with tense silence as Councillor Zarina rose from her throne and made her way towards Sora slowly and meticulously. Her heels clicked against the speckless floor, echoing Sora’s frightened heartbeat. She listened to the sound of her heels, never looking up. The sound seemed rather rhythmic, and soothed Sora down a little, until it—

Stopped.

“Please, if I may just have one minute of your time,” someone said, breaking Sora’s concentration and eliciting a collective gasp from both the Council and the audience behind.

Hesitantly, Sora turned around, already knowing who it was.

She would know that voice from anywhere.

But what was he doing? Did he have a death wish, interrupting the Council like that?

The Council all exchanged glances with one another as Emery frowned and rubbed his temples rigorously. It seemed like they were having a telepathic debate, and it was clear he could not concentrate.

“What do you wish to say, Mr Heks?” Councillor Oralie finally asked, breaking the silence with her sweet, silvery voice. The rosy colour in her cheeks had faded, and she looked a little jittery as she, too, rose from her seat and beckoned Soreas to approach her. Placing a gentle hand on Soreas’s shoulder, Oralie closed her eyes and waited for a second. Then she said, “You have one minute. You may begin.”

_ What is she doing? _

Sora watched in both fascination and confusion as Soreas took a deep breath, and opened his mouth to speak. “Well, you see, Councillor Oralie, my sister has just manifested as a Terrakinetic. We all know that elements are very versatile and hard to control, especially since she’d just had this ability. Sending her to Exillium would mean that Sora would not be trained in Terrakinesis at all, only in skills. If she doesn’t receive proper training, more disasters like what happened last night—”

His voice hitched for a second, before he cleared his throat and continued--” and— and I think I speak for everyone when I say we don’t want any more of that to happen.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, including some of the Councillors. Sora was stunned by his words, and a little amazed at how much Soreas could pull people over with his words. But… what was he doing, exactly? Was...was he trying to… tell them to let her… stay?

No, that was impossible! The Council would never let someone like her continue staying in the Lost Cities. Soreas might know how to argue well, but he could_ never _change the Council’s decisions.

Everyone knew once the Council wanted something, they got it.

“I’m not proposing for Sora to stay here— much as I would want her to, I know that the Lost Cities have to stay in peace and harmony, and we have certain regulations to upkeep. However, sending her to the Neutral Territories by herself is ultimately the most dangerous thing that could ever happen to her, and that might create unrest and tension between the elves and the other intelligent species, since a huge majority of the intelligent species, such as gnomes and ogres, live there. So to prevent most of this from happening, I propose that I be banished along with Sora to accompany her to Exillium, and guide and help her make the right decisions.”

Silence fell like a rock crashing down with gravity.

Sora turned to look at Soreas with wide eyes, not believing what he’d done.

Did he have any notion of what exactly he had sacrificed for her?

Emery shook his head as he placed a hand to his forehead, trying to navigate the Council’s thoughts and sort out the mess.

After a while, all he said was, “Mr Heks, you have a future in the Lost Cities. Your results have topped the cohort several times. You are guaranteed a high position in the nobility if you continue to keep up your good performance. And yet, you wish to sacrifice all of this for your Unworthy sister.” Sora felt like she’d been slapped in the face.

Your_ Unworthy sister. _

“Yes, I do. After all, I am the only one left in my family now. I am an orphan and a single child if I remain in the Lost Cities. I am her only family left, and I wish to care for her and treasure her as much as I can.”

“Soreas…” Sora whispered, feeling tears prick her eyes.

“What he says is genuine,” said Oralie quietly, making Sora realise Oralie must be an Empath, trying to get a sense of his emotions to judge his character.

“You don’t have to say anything, Sora.” Soreas gave her a small smile, then turned back to face the Councillors, of which some looked heavily conflicted, Councillor Emery being one of them. “Please just grant my request. I hope you realise that this is for the best.”

_ “We _know what’s for the best, Mr Heks,” snapped Councillor Bronte. “And since you are so disrespectful, I don’t wish to see your face in the Elven nobility as well. I say we grant your request.”

Sora gaped as she watched the rest of the Councillors slowly nod their agreement with Bronte, until the final vote was nine against three.

Nine as in nine Councillors agreeing to banish Soreas along with Sora.

Sora couldn’t believe her eyes, and she turned to look at Soreas as she asked, “Why are you doing this?”

_ You could have had it all, you know. _

Soreas wrapped Sora in a big hug. “Because I’m your brother. And staying behind here would mean I would have nothing left.”

Tears streaked down Sora’s cheeks, and she returned her brother’s hug as she whispered, “It’s just going to get worse from here onwards.”

“I know. But… we won’t be alone. And that makes all the difference.”

When her registry pendant was removed along with Soreas’s, Sora felt like it was the start of something new. She took one last look around the crowded Tribunal Hall, one of the very last places in the Lost Cities she would be in.

Her eyes met Elian’s for a second, before breaking off.

She sent a last goodbye to Kenric and Oralie, smiling slightly at them to know that their efforts hadn't been wasted on her.

_ This is for a brighter future. This is for a time where everything will be perfect and everyone will be happy. _

_ This is our time. _

The last thing she saw was two children with pale silvery-blue eyes and jet-black hair staring at her in wonder before she was taken away to an unknown future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoy reading :3 -Xylia


	5. CORDELIA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah sure, send the spy’s doppelganger over to one of the most top secret, information-heavy locations in the world, in which may result in the downfall of the Black Swan if the information found inside is spread to the wrong hands. What could possibly go wrong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANNOUNCEMENT:
> 
> Yvonne: I have chosen the combine the prologue with Chapter 1, because it is making my head spin. You are welcome.

**Chapter Five**

_ Mysteries and lies. They make up what I am. _

There was nothing more frustrating than seeing what you wanted tantalizingly laid out in front of you, but dissipating when it dissipates into thin air every time you reached out to stretch out for it.

That was what Corey felt every single day at Exillium. Another day wasted when it could’ve been spent on more productive actions, like taking the Neverseen down.

Shrugging off the disgusting Exillium uniform, Corey fumed at the unfairness of her situation. It was bratty of her, but she was in a foul enough mood to not care. It wasn't just the fact that life at Exillium was as terrible as ever, it was the fact that Ayagi failed to tell her that two new people would be moving into Huldlot.

Corey lived at Huldlot for a good eight years, visited for even longer, but apparently she wasn't part of the family enough for Ayagi to trust her with even something as inconsequential as this.

Maybe Ayagi simply forgot, but it still stung.

_ This is for Mum and Dad. This is for them. _

Repeating her ever-ready mantra in her head, she held the uniform a good ten inches away, narrowing her eyes at the way it hung soggily from her fingers. It was all because of the Black Swan. Bleugh. It still retained that smell of unicorn crap, even though she washed it. Twice. With her own freaking ability!

_ Speaking about the Black Swan… _

Corey tried to recall the moment she returned from the Neverseen hideout.

_ “Aya, please, it’s urgent! Aya!” _

_ Corey was begging Ayagi, the news that she bore making her desperate. But she was refused. With good reason, of course. Well, the last time Aya let Corey talk to Mr Forkle through Corey’s Imparter, things… had not gone well. No one ever dared to speak of that incident.  _

_ When Corey finally managed to contact Mr Forkle, she was so tense that instead of offering a proper greeting, she immediately blurted, “I’ve just returned. They’ve initiated a Pyrokinetic.” A brief shake of her head completed her report. _

_ As she tried to catch her breath, she heard Ayagi and Sevadís gasp in horror. But she ignored them, too preoccupied to care about their reactions. _

_ It was the second time Corey had seen Mr Forkle show any kind of emotion similar to the look he was currently wearing. His eyebrows were furrowed, with a look of intense concentration on his face. It made Mr Forkle… seem like a normal elf, instead of the enigmatic head researcher of Project Moonlark. _

_ The first time she’d seen this exact expression on his face was when she first requested to join the Black Swan, back when she was only nine. _

_ “Thank you,  _ _ Dolja _ _ ,” was his eventual bland reply. Mr. Forkle always addressed her with her Black Swan codename. “I'll make sure we will be prepared for a third strike anytime. In the meantime, has Verbouge informed you about the latest incident yet?” _

_ Huh? Has Ayagi informed her about what? Her confusion must've shown on her face, as he shook his head and said, “Recently, two of our Black Swan members, Himitsu and Espair have been exiled, due to Himitsu’s loss of control over her newly acquired powers. Verbouge has already arranged them to live in Emissary Larayna’s estate. They will be under the protection of  _ _ Dölja _ _ , who would be tasked with preventing them from being ejected from Exillium.” Corey received the message loud and clear. On top of her spying mission, she had to keep two more kids in line. Great. _

_ She highly doubted she would be able to handle them. She can’t do kids. They’re just not her thing. (The last time Aya had friends with kids under the age of eleven, things did not go down so well. Corey was relatively sure that that poor kid was traumatized.) _

_ He continued talking. “Further information has already been sent to you via Imparter. Make sure they’re kept safe. They are a very valuable asset to the organization, the girl in particular. You are also required to report tomorrow for a more detailed briefing on your next actions. That's all for now. Good luck and goodbye.”  _

That was just yesterday.

Holding the mask in her hands, she traced its outline, the only thing that she thought was okay about the uniform.  _ Oh no…  _ As another bout of panic washed over her, Corey heaved a huge sigh, reached into her pocket and took out her Imparter, reading the information on the two exiled elves for the third time today.

* * *

**SORA HEKS**

**Name:** Sora Heks

**Age: ** 17

**Ability/Abilities:** Terrakinetic, Polyglot

**Background Info: ** Attacked by a rampaging unicorn at the age of eight. Resulted in mutated mind. Inspiration for Project Moonlark. Attended Foxfire Academy as messenger for the Black Swan before manifesting as a Terrakinetic. Caused a massive earthquake, destroyed her house, and killed her parents due to loss of control. Deemed as Unworthy and banished from the Lost Cities to become a Wayward at Exillium.

**Things to Take Note of: ** Interact with caution. Highly volatile and unstable. Feels more at ease with brother. Highly unsociable and quiet.

**Triggers: ** Complete families; sisters; twins; gold; tight spaces (claustrophobia)

* * *

**SOREAS HEKS**

**Name:** Soreas Heks

**Age: ** 19

**Ability/Abilities:** Guster, Polyglot

**Background Info: ** Was close to his younger sister Jin before she left the Black Swan. Was caught in an ogre attack in the Neutral Territories when under the care of the Black Swan a few months after. Chose to be banished along with sister Sora Heks (refer to previous attachment).

**Things to Take Note of: ** A good debater, likes to talk his way out of situations. Do not engage in verbal conflict. Immensely powerful. Does not realise the limits of his own power. Do not let him know until further orders. Do not engage in battle.

**Triggers:** Complete families; sisters; gold; ogres

* * *

**General Precautions:** _ Cordelia Malum must not know of their identities. _

* * *

_ So they’re the ones who got exiled, huh…  _ Thinking to herself, Corey turned around, looked into the mirror, and started tucking her hair under her hood.  _ But at least they’re around my age, and not a bunch of ten-year-olds. _ Thinking and thinking about age, she couldn’t help but repress a shiver that suddenly ran down her spine.

She wondered, just how was a 17 year old girl still able to manifest such a powerful ability?

Hearing a knock on her door frame, she turned around, only to see a giant black bear standing at her door.

“So, I presume you heard about my latest mission?” she asked the bear cheerfully, turning the Imparter screen off and putting it back into her pocket carefully.

She only received a low growl in reply. A flash of light, and Sevdaís stood leaning against the doorway instead of the black bear, concern flashing in his eyes.

“Be careful,” he warned. “From what I heard… the girl hasn't received any proper training for her abilities. And she holds great potential, if the fact that she accidentally destroyed her home and killed her parents is any indication. And the boy… he's equally powerful, and he was a very high ranked Foxfire prodigy, which means he uses his head. He’s also very protective of his sister, and both of them together make a dangerous pair. We wouldn't want you to get hurt now, would we?” 

Feeling a lump rise up in the back of her throat, she choked out, “Thanks, Sev. But relax— aren’t they on the same side as us?” _ Members of the Black Swan _ , Mr. Forkle had called the two siblings.  _ Assets of the organisation. _

Hearing that, Corey noticed Sevadaís’ bright blue eyes cloud over, shadows casting them into a deep shade of indigo. “Yes, they are, but… you never know. Besides, the girl… she lost control once already, who knows what will happen if she loses control again at Exillium?”

“Well, then she has yours truly to keep her in line, isn't that's what I'm here for?” Replying with a smart ass comment normally didn’t help with the situation, but Sev seemed to relax a little, cracking a smile.

“Yeah, I know that, stay safe, okay kiddo? I gotta go, so… see ya!” With that, he held his pathfinder against light streaming from the window, and vanished.

Once he was gone, Corey was instantly hit with a wave of gratitude. Sevadís had wholeheartedly taken up the role of her father, so that she would grow up relatively normal. She was, after all, his best friend's daughter. Bits and pieces of her past came rushing back to her.

_ “Daddy!” _

_ A little girl, no more than eight, rushing across a sea of grass. She was immediately swept up in her waiting father’s arms, swinging the girl around. “Hey kiddo, how was Aunt Aya’s?” _

Her father, Stark Malum. He was a five-foot-seven, broad-shouldered Charger. He once worked in the Sanctuary, bringing information about their creatures to the Black Swan. A valuable asset, and was rumoured to hold valuable information about a secret project that the Black Swan was working on.

_ A tinkling laugh sounded from the girl’s right. The man set the girl down and turned around, revealing a beautiful woman with glittering icy eyes. _

Her mother, Chari Malum. Lithe, graceful, strong. An extremely powerful Froster who graduated from Foxfire as one of the highest ranking elites in her year. While everyone thought of her as just a normal housewife, her amazing control over her abilities made her a very valued and feared member of the Black Swan.

_ “Of course she had. It's Ayagi, and Sevdaís is around. She loves them.” _

Unbeknownst to others, her mother was a very kind person deep inside, always working for the sake of the ones she loved.

_ “Even though,” she added, “I have no idea why.” _

…Most of the time, that was. But they were the best parents she could ever had, and she wouldn't trade them for all in Eternalia. When their light faded from existence, never had she, in her nine-and-a-half years of living, felt so much sorrow and pain. She had begged Mr Forkle to Wash away her memories a few years later, on a particularly painful anniversary, but he had refused. She was heartbroken. How could he? It… it was her fault, after all. If she hadn’t insisted on going out, then maybe, just maybe, they would still be alive…

Shuddering, she pulled herself from her memories, finding herself breathing heavily. This always happened whenever she thought of her parents. But it was her fault. She knew that Mr. Forkle knew that elves weren’t equipped to handle guilt, so  _ why  _ in the fucking world did he refuse? All he did was to leave her with a confusing parting sentence: “Keep that guilt, that anger in you, and hold that ball of emotions in. When the time is right… let it all out.”

What the hell did  _ that  _ mean?

Although she knew it was unbecoming of her to question Mr Forkle's words, but damn, was she curious. But every single time she brought the subject up, he either changed the subject, or glared at her so badly she trembled in her black knee-high, lace-up boots that her cousin Kael had given her for her fifteenth birthday.

Lesson learnt.  _ Never  _ try to insult or question Mr. Errol Loki Forkle. 

But that wasn’t all. It wasn't just her parents who died, she found out, but someone else as well. Someone not even properly introduced to this world yet.

Her unborn baby brother.

Thinking of him only made the guilt, the humiliation, the  _ anger _ , increase in tenfold. He was only five months old, and she single-handedly assisted in killing him.

Maybe that was why she was so bad with little kids— because they reminded her of him. God, she remembered how she always begged her parents for a younger sibling, but now? She couldn’t even look at a kid under the age of eleven in the eye without being reminded of that incident. That was how old he would be…

If he had survived.

Oh no, what was she doing, being reminded of this incident? What's done is done, there's no other choice but to move forward now. She tried to force her emotions down, but to no avail. Inside her, something snapped. Beneath her feet, something else did too.  _ Oh shit… she's gonna yell in 3… 2… 1… _

“CORDELIA!!!!” Ayagi’s yell, mixed with the howling of very pissed off dog, resonated through the whole house. Oh, whoops. Not again.

Rushing downstairs, she found herself with one very wet and pissed guardian and one wet and pissed puppy. Uh oh. This was  _ not  _ going to turn out well…

“Oh… hey guys…” Waving her hands around, she gathered all the excess water on the floor and sent it out of the window. Yeah… well, she’d better call one of the dwarves to help fix the water pipes… again.

Once the floor was clean and dry, a golden ball of fluff launched itself at her, fangs bared. She barely managed to dodge the ball of doom by a hair’s length and rushed back up to her room, which in itself, was a good thing.

She had found Lluvia in the human world, shivering and cold in the rain, trying to hide from the water under a pile of cardboard boxes. Growing up in an eccentric household like theirs, the intelligent dog had become a complete brat, which naturally led to Lluvia ‘spilling’ random potions in her hair. As a result, crispy hair. Hardee Har Har.

Looking at the time, she sucked in a chilling breath in horror. Oh damn, she was going to be so late!

Like a bolt, she grabbed her ever-ready-Black-Swan-only purse from the false bottom of her chest-of-drawers, guzzled down a curious looking potion that turned her eyes crimson, and rushed to the window. All within 30 seconds. Must have been a new record.

Corey gripped onto the edge of the windowsill, pulled on a pair of large horn-rimmed glasses and  _ leapt off the building _ . Just before the ground could get the chance to welcome her with its open arms, she pulled out her pathfinder from her jeans pocket, held it up to the light, and yelled, “ _ Samag _ !” In a flash of light, she was gone.

In a matter of seconds, she rematerialized several thousand meters away from home, the middle of a barren desert with the wind whipping grains of sand in her face. Nothing was seen for miles around her, except for a lone, solitary boulder. Landing solidly on her feet, she smiled to herself. Bingo. As she focused her mental energy on that solitary boulder, she gave it a little push. The boulder shifted slightly, the minute grains flowing into the gap that was once hidden by the massive boulder. Now grinning in confidence, she gave the boulder a shove. The boulder rolled away, revealing a massive hole only slightly smaller than the boulder.

Pulling another black hooded cloak from her bag, one drastically different from her Neverseen disguise, Corey shrugged it on, its weight falling heavily over her shoulders. _ _

Once feeling that the cloak was in place, she clicked a button hidden in the collar of the cloak, feeling the cloak stiffen around her. Holding her breath, she jumped into the wide, gaping mouth in the floor.

She entered with a splash.

Corey was sinking, going all the way to the bottom of the cavern pool. A bit like that book she read on a recent jaunt to the Forbidden Cities. What was it called again? Oh yes, it was, um... Alice in Wonderland! Ah, good memories.

She remembered the time that she snuck off to the Forbidden Cities, only to crack open a book that read:  _ “The rabbit hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well. Either the well was very deep or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her, and to wonder what was going to happen next.” _

A very curious book indeed. Talking rabbits and mock turtles and card soldiers. Humans certainly had very… unique imaginations.

She remembered another book that she opened. A middle school science textbook. Humans needed air to breathe, a unique combination of nitrogen and oxygen, which can be viewed as a waste product of photosynthesis. So did elves. But there's no time to dwell on her jaunts to the Forbidden Cities now. First priority—air.

Summoning what’s left of her remaining strength, she raised a wave of water, and slapped it against the water surface. Bubbles came streaming down the water. She controlled the water surrounding the air bubbles, straining to control the hundreds—no, thousands of bubbles, holding them stock still in the water.

Physically groaning in the water, she pushed the tiny bubbles together, creating a large bubble of air to place on her head.

Three cheers for oxygen!

After she had sunk deep enough, she spotted a dark hole, black as pitch, gaping from the side of the pool. Drawing another breath of air from the gradually shrinking bubble of water, she propelled herself towards the hole immersing herself in pitch-black darkness.

A complete lack of light forced her to rely on her other senses, and she forced her heartbeat to slow. The darkness reminded her of the time when… _ no _ .

As she gently trailed a hand against the rough stone wall of the tunnel, she gently propelled herself forward.  _ This is not the time for a casual swim. Focus, Corey.  _ She used the presence of the water to her advantage, sensing where the water thinned out and steering away from it.

Less than ten minutes, she resurfaced, the water still surrounding her, only to find herself in a glittering, sparkling crystal cavern. Standing at the edge of the pool was the Boss himself, in all his wrinkled glory. Checking the silver timekeeper in his hands while she busied herself with surrounding herself with a thick mist, he recorded, “Nine minutes and forty-nine seconds. Good. You passed.”

A rush of anger suddenly coursed through her veins, and she couldn’t help but sneer, “So. That’s it? I passed? In case you’ve forgotten, the last time you told me that I  _ ‘passed’ _ , I was removed from duty for 2 months until you deemed me ‘physically fit’.” She was seething, and the uncomfortable cloak didn’t help to improve her temper.

He did not seem the least perturbed, and only continued, “I had expected nothing less from you, being our youngest co-op member. It is necessary that you be highly trained in all aspects of stealth, adaptation, observation, social interaction, and independence, among others. Being the youngest, it was— still is— necessary too that you be more strictly trained than your fellow spies, as you are required to undergo more covert operations, reason being that the rest are recognizable adult members of society and you are not. Therefore, you, pose a greater risk of being caught by the enemy—”

He was suddenly cut off by Corey rudely rolling her eyes and scoffing, “And risk revealing our position, of  _ course _ . ”

Mr Forkle could only lift an eyebrow in response. “So, Dölja, the reason why I asked you to come,” he continued, skillfully ignoring her scoffing, and continuing, “is that our enemy, may have made Mr. and Miss Heks their next targets. Out of all our members, they are in some of the greatest danger that could happen to them. They have a twin sister working for the enemy. More specifically, Miss Heks has an identical twin sister— Jin Heks.”

“Wait. So. You’re saying that the sister is in cahoots with the enemy,” Corey suddenly interrupted, while frantically going through her head to remember why her name sounded familiar. Suddenly, she realised, with growing horror, who that was.

Jin Heks. With short vermillion hair and a toned but lithe figure, the Telepath had the reputation of being the best female fighter in the formidable enemy organisation.

Corey had never personally approached her before— she wasn’t supposed too, and even though she would deny it to her grave, she didn’t  _ dare  _ to.

She was always seen standing next to the leaders, and it was clear that they treated Jin as somebody who was actually worth their undivided attention. They clearly had plans to involve her in their big operation, and that alone already spoke volumes about her position in the organisation’s hierarchy. 

Corey hadn’t had any particularly huge qualms about Jin, and she didn’t really understand why the leaders were so focused on her— after all, anyone could learn fighting, and her Telepathic ability might be strong— stronger than hers— but it was a well-known fact that there were stronger Telepaths out there. But  _ now  _ that she knew Jin was an almost exact copy of a member of the Black Swan, Corey knew how dire the circumstances really were.

Ah, quiznak.

She, a member of the enemy, could sneak into the territory of the Black Swan, acting as her twin, the Black Swan member, to dig out everything she needed to know about the inside workings of the Black Swan. She would be a perfect spy. In fact, Corey would be surprised if the leaders hadn’t put her up to that.

_ Or…  _ Jin had already been a spy for a long time already. An undetected, and a very careful spy.

It was at that very moment, Corey knew she and the Black Swan had officially fucked up.

If the Heks are related to  _ her _ , then…

Her head shot up to meet the gaze of Mr. Forkle, her face paling in horror and her mouth hanging open. Gulping nervously, she started, “You do realise that it isn’t the best idea to send the siblings of an enemy spy over? Not only would it pose the risk of leakage of information, leading to catastrophic consequences, it would also result in the destruction of the organization from the inside— did I mention  _ catastrophic consequences _ ? Yeah sure, send the spy’s doppelganger over to one of the most top secret, information-heavy locations in the world, in which may result in the downfall of the Black Swan if the information found inside is spread to the wrong hands. What could possibly _ go wrong? ” _

Mr. Forkle, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed. “We have, of course, taken that into consideration, but it would only lead to more  _ complications _ . The Collective has decided that the safest route of action would be for the Heks to temporarily stay at Verbouge’s place of dwelling until it is safe enough for us to transfer them to a more protected area. And during the weekends, they will be staying at Alluveterre, as Miss Heks needs a Terrakinesis Mentor.”

_ Translation: when everyone has forgotten all about this little ‘incident’, which could take… years. Decades. Maybe even centuries. _

Corey half-wanted to read his mind right there and then to find out what exactly was this ‘more protected area’ of his that she didn’t know the slightest thing about, but refrained from doing so. After all, he was a much more talented Telepath than she was, and he would immediately be able to feel her poking around in his mind.

And sometimes, she really didn't want to know what was going on in his head. Ignorance was bliss, they said— and she knew that too well.

One such case was the reasons behind the poor quality of education in Exillium. It wasn't because they wanted to torture them. It was due to a mere lack of funding. Long ago, Exillium was a lovely school, aimed in aiding elves back on the straight and narrow. Although there were several successful cases, such cases were few, with most of their attempts ending in vain. Thus, most donors cut off funding, believing that those elves were hopeless, and that their money could be used for greater purposes than raising future criminals, leaving with only the Council funding them. But that money alone was not enough. Admittance rates in Exillium were rising, but the amount of funding did not. Perhaps it was enough a century ago, but the elven population spike, which in turn triggered the human population boom, only at an immensely larger scale, left Exillium cash-strapped. And that was only the beginning.

She wished immensely to help improve their dire situation if only for the sake of herself, but she couldn’t, lest she blew her cover. Her hands were tied.

Seeing the look that Mr. Forkle was giving her, she had no choice but to groan loudly and bitterly mutter: “Fine! I shall keep an eye on them, and to befriend them. But I have no guarantees. I highly doubt that a Black Swan member would open up to a random civilian but…I will try.”

“And? I called you here with the impression you had  _ something  _ to tell me.” Cue the response, with a raised eyebrow.

“And… ah, the new guy?” Sheesh, she knows that Mr. Forkle loved to be secretive and all, but sometimes, she really wished that Mr. Forkle would just say things out loud, not just  _ imply  _ them.

She transmitted the memories gathered from her short trip to Mr. Forkle, an easy task compared to her previous one, and stepped back to watch the show.

The dread was rising from her gut, bubbling up in her throat.  _ This cannot be good. _

Without a single reaction on his face, it only meant one thing: this guy was probably unregistered elf; a new elf who managed to stay under the Council’s radar even after manifesting as a Pyrokinetic,  _ and  _ since there were no missing posters about this dude, either his whole family’s dead or his family really hates him.

She was willing to bet that it was the former. The enemy organisation had a lot of messed up people like that. Hey, with a cruel psychopath as its leader, what did you expect? All sunshine and pink fluffy unicorns?

Sighing heavily, she remarked, “You don’t recognise him either, do you? His face was a little blurry, since I only saw his face for a few seconds, but he doesn’t seem familiar to me.” Pity a photographic memory wasn’t one of her many gifts, or else she would’ve captured that face down in her head in excruciating detail, ready to track him down whenever opportunity striked.

“Well, thank you for your contribution, Dölja. We will be sure to keep an eye out for him.” He interrupted Corey’s incessant rambling, before turning back to face her. “It is advisable for you to lay low for these few days at the enemy. I highly doubt they would take kindly to one of their members slapping their newest, and most potentially dangerous, recruit. I advise you to be cautious.”

“I understand. But I have no guarantee that everything will go in the way that you would expect.”

“ _ I _ expect no less than stellar results. Do as you wish.”

“Yes sir.” She dipped her head slightly, a gleaming smirk half-hidden in the shadow of her hood. “Good day.”

Her piece already said, she turned back around, and sank into the water, becoming one with it, allowing the currents to bring her back to the entrance.

Rising out of the water like a nymph, she slowly guided the water to drop her at the edge of the cavern entrance, all the more musing over what she had learnt.

She doubted that Mr Forkle had told her everything, but that was just what he was like: never putting all his eggs in one basket. She counted herself lucky for knowing so much. Well, enough was enough. The sun was rising high in the sky, and she’d better get home soon. This wasn’t what she signed up for, but what could she do? It’s a hive mentality in the Black Swan.  _ One for all, all for one. _ If she didn’t do her job properly, she might be ejected from the Black Swan, her memories wiped. And that wouldn't— _ couldn’t _ do. Corey needed the support of the Black Swan if she wanted to take the enemy down.

Sighing for the millionth time, she pulled out her pathfinder, and muttered, “Huldlot.”

Bitter thoughts swept into her mind, numbing her as the light whisked her back home.

_ It's going to be a long day. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yvonne: y'all have no idea how much effort posting this took. hopefully we can post the following chapters soon!! (we had national exams guys)

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER:
> 
> All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Shannon Whitney Messenger. The line in the synopsis "They are misfits living in a world on fire" is adapted from the pop song "People Like Us", performed by Kelly Brianne Clarkson, written by Meghan Kabir, James Michael, Blair Daly, and produced by Greg Kurstin. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors of this fanfiction. The authors are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.


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